Iverson, David L. , Jim W. McGraw, Morris Mauritis, and Ji-Won Jang. "Mixing Ratio of CaCl2 and NaCl for Effective Deicer." Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering 1 (1997): 62-64.EBSCO host. Web. 6 Jan. 2012.
Project Proposal:
FIND article that discusses the impact of salt on roadside plants/grasses.(MIT- Dave Ostendorf)
Project Topic
De-icers' effect on ice and the environment
Chemistry Concept
Effects of different compounds on ice and common plants
Hypothesis
Sodium chloride will prove to be the least destructive to grass and most cost efficient.
NaCl, Sure Paws Ice Melter, Ice No Mor Ice Melter, Green Origins Ice Melter, grass, water, freezer, plastic ice tray (2), flower grids (6).
Safety Information:Chemicals/Reaction
Other Information
Content:
DEICERS’ EFFECTS ON ICE AND THE ENVIRONMENT. Joelle Destache and Sid Dicke. The purpose of this experiment was to determine which deicer alternative was the most cost efficient, time efficient and environmentally friendly. Although many deicers are very expensive, they do not work well. They are also expensive regarding their effects on the environment. Deicers, especially ones that include chloride, kill plants, grass, and living organisms that live along roads and highways. Two trials were performed during this lab. During the first trial, pitting occurred on the ice so, during the second trial, the deicers were spread out more thoroughly over the ice and it was more effective. It was found that a non-toxic deicer, Ice No Mor, was the most effective at melting ice while a pet friendly, non-toxic deicer named Sure Paws was the least effective melting ice. When the deicers were applied to the grass and grass seed, salt and Sure Paws Ice Melter killed the most grass and the grass with Ice No Mor was the second least affected while grass with Green Origins Ice Melter on it was the least affected. Key Words: Deicers, ice melters, salt, chloride, deicer alternatives, Sure Paws, Ice No Mor, Green Origins, ice
This lab examined the environmental effects as well as the effectiveness of various deicers. This was determined by testing the deicers on grass and ice cubes throughout two trials. Five deicers were used including salt, Safe Paws, Green Origins and Ice No Mor. The deicers were tested to see which have the least effect on grass and which have the most effect on ice. Deicers can contaminate ground water, kill plants, burn grass, and poison native species and birds. According to peterschemical.com, magnesium chloride is a compound that is less toxic and better for the environment than sodium chloride (peterschemical.com). Magnesium chloride is one of the compounds used in the alternative deicers. On the other hand, chloride can poison many animal species. It causes cancer in animals and does not break down very easily in animals’ digestive systems (Meredith). Chloride dissolves when mixed with water, though, and therefore could wash away if it were to rain (Chlorine). But in the winter, rain is unlikely. Water has a lot concentration of ionic compounds compared to grass roots. The roots take in the water to feed the grass, but only water with low concentrations of ionic compounds .Most deicers are made up of ionic compounds and therefore make the water have high concentrations of compounds. When a deicer is added to the soil, the grass roots do not want to take in the water. This causes the grass to wilt and/or die. For a deicer to be healthy to the environment, especially grass, it has to either not affect the concentration of ionic compounds in water, or only add small amounts of compounds to the water.
Methods: Ice was made by freezing water in an ice tray. Meanwhile, grass was grown in flower grids. One milliliter of four different deicers were added to the ice by sprinkling them on with a graduated cylinder. Inside the freezer, which was had an average temperature of around -12°F; the effectiveness of the deicers was tested for one day (24 hours). After the grass was grown, deicers were sprinkled over them in the same manner and the effects were observed for 24 hours.
Results: Out of the two trials, the second trial was more accurate. It was found that Sure Paws was the most effective deicer. On average, it melted 6.75 ml of ice. Ice No Mor was the least effective; it only melted an average of 4.875 ml of ice. The next most effective deicer was Green Origins, it melted an average of 5.5 ml of ice. NaCl melted, on average, 5 ml of ice which was half of the ice. Although Ice No Mor was the most effective on the ice, it was only the second most environmentally friendly on the grass. Green Origins Ice Melter also killed barely any of the grass. NaCl hindered the grass’s growth process and killed some of it, while Sure Paws killed most of the grass. Overall, Ice No Mor was the most effective and environmentally friendly. Although Sure Paws is animal friendly it was not very effective at melting ice and it was very destructive to the grass. Green Origins was not very effective on the ice, but it was the most environmentally friendly. NaCl was the second least effective on the grass and the second least effective on the ice (Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and Figures 1, 2, 3, 4).
Discussion: These results were unexpected. It was expected that salt would be the most effective and environmentally friendly because that is the deicer most commonly used. But, salt melted, on average, 1.75 ml less than Green Origins and it was much more damaging to the grass (Table 4). To find out that the most common deicer is not the most effective and environmentally friendly is disappointing. Overall, Ice No Mor was the most effective when the results of both trials were combined. It was the best deicer when comparing the results of melting the ice and the second best in its environmental friendliness (Table 2, 3, Figure). Its compounds did not affect the water that the grass needed to live like the other deicers did. It is listed as nontoxic, so its affects on organisms surrounding roads and highways are safer, too. Ice No Mor was also the second most cost efficient. It was the least expensive ice melter; it costs $7.99 for 20 pounds of it. The second trial was more accurate than the first trial because there was a set amount of water being frozen to make ice cubes. This made for more accurate data of how much ice melted using the deicers. But, there was still some cause for error because at times the ice cubes would be sitting in room temperature waiting for data to be collected and pictures to be taken. This would have made the ice cubes melt faster than they did in the freezer which was set at -12°F. Also, when pouring the diecers onto the ice cubes, some would have more deicers than others, especially in Trial 1 when one of the deicers spilled out very fast and covered some of the ice cubes meant for another deicer. The Green Origins ice melter spilled onto the Ice No Mor ice cubes.
Journal Citations:
Tenenbaum, D. (2008). De-icers Add Sweet to Salt. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116, 476. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&hid=104&sid=79c684e7-c74a-4473-9d89-9742258aa7a8%40sessionmgr104
Iverson, David L. , Jim W. McGraw, Morris Mauritis, and Ji-Won Jang. "Mixing Ratio of CaCl2 and NaCl for Effective Deicer." Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering 1 (1997): 62-64.EBSCO host. Web. 6 Jan. 2012.
Project Proposal:
FIND article that discusses the impact of salt on roadside plants/grasses.(MIT- Dave Ostendorf)2) Iverson, D. L., McGraw, J. W., Mauritis, M., & Jang, J. (1997). Mixing Ratio of CaCl2 and NaCl for Effective Deicer. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 1, 62-64. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=127&sid=c4ea6db2-afbb-4ea2-8ce1-f071e75522cd%40sessionmgr111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=9708262206
3) Joyce, E. M. (1995, May 5). Chlorine and the Environment. West Virginia University. Retrieved February 20, 2012, from
http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/infores/pubs/fypubs/wl314.pdf
Key Words: Deicers, ice melters, salt, chloride, deicer alternatives, Sure Paws, Ice No Mor, Green Origins, ice
Deicers can contaminate ground water, kill plants, burn grass, and poison native species and birds. According to peterschemical.com, magnesium chloride is a compound that is less toxic and better for the environment than sodium chloride (peterschemical.com). Magnesium chloride is one of the compounds used in the alternative deicers. On the other hand, chloride can poison many animal species. It causes cancer in animals and does not break down very easily in animals’ digestive systems (Meredith). Chloride dissolves when mixed with water, though, and therefore could wash away if it were to rain (Chlorine). But in the winter, rain is unlikely.
Water has a lot concentration of ionic compounds compared to grass roots. The roots take in the water to feed the grass, but only water with low concentrations of ionic compounds .Most deicers are made up of ionic compounds and therefore make the water have high concentrations of compounds. When a deicer is added to the soil, the grass roots do not want to take in the water. This causes the grass to wilt and/or die. For a deicer to be healthy to the environment, especially grass, it has to either not affect the concentration of ionic compounds in water, or only add small amounts of compounds to the water.
Methods:
Ice was made by freezing water in an ice tray. Meanwhile, grass was grown in flower grids. One milliliter of four different deicers were added to the ice by sprinkling them on with a graduated cylinder. Inside the freezer, which was had an average temperature of around -12°F; the effectiveness of the deicers was tested for one day (24 hours). After the grass was grown, deicers were sprinkled over them in the same manner and the effects were observed for 24 hours.
Results:
Out of the two trials, the second trial was more accurate. It was found that Sure Paws was the most effective deicer. On average, it melted 6.75 ml of ice. Ice No Mor was the least effective; it only melted an average of 4.875 ml of ice. The next most effective deicer was Green Origins, it melted an average of 5.5 ml of ice. NaCl melted, on average, 5 ml of ice which was half of the ice.
Although Ice No Mor was the most effective on the ice, it was only the second most environmentally friendly on the grass. Green Origins Ice Melter also killed barely any of the grass. NaCl hindered the grass’s growth process and killed some of it, while Sure Paws killed most of the grass.
Overall, Ice No Mor was the most effective and environmentally friendly. Although Sure Paws is animal friendly it was not very effective at melting ice and it was very destructive to the grass. Green Origins was not very effective on the ice, but it was the most environmentally friendly. NaCl was the second least effective on the grass and the second least effective on the ice (Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and Figures 1, 2, 3, 4).
Discussion:
These results were unexpected. It was expected that salt would be the most effective and environmentally friendly because that is the deicer most commonly used. But, salt melted, on average, 1.75 ml less than Green Origins and it was much more damaging to the grass (Table 4). To find out that the most common deicer is not the most effective and environmentally friendly is disappointing.
Overall, Ice No Mor was the most effective when the results of both trials were combined. It was the best deicer when comparing the results of melting the ice and the second best in its environmental friendliness (Table 2, 3, Figure). Its compounds did not affect the water that the grass needed to live like the other deicers did. It is listed as nontoxic, so its affects on organisms surrounding roads and highways are safer, too. Ice No Mor was also the second most cost efficient. It was the least expensive ice melter; it costs $7.99 for 20 pounds of it.
The second trial was more accurate than the first trial because there was a set amount of water being frozen to make ice cubes. This made for more accurate data of how much ice melted using the deicers. But, there was still some cause for error because at times the ice cubes would be sitting in room temperature waiting for data to be collected and pictures to be taken. This would have made the ice cubes melt faster than they did in the freezer which was set at -12°F. Also, when pouring the diecers onto the ice cubes, some would have more deicers than others, especially in Trial 1 when one of the deicers spilled out very fast and covered some of the ice cubes meant for another deicer. The Green Origins ice melter spilled onto the Ice No Mor ice cubes.